| Show mft a t N Y 8 ERS ade ra by 1 9 arriag A n a W clure W N U c SYNOPSIS I 1 CHAPTER ion I 1 on her way to it position in loftland Lost land academy janet mercer young profet professor sor of english literature and rhetoric after inc 21 letter from gordon haskell proprietor of the academy moots meets on the train a youn man whom she he learns learn Is arthur fleming emin ai also so 0 on n his hl w way 7 to the academy as pr pro 0 fessor of mothe matice and chemistry they reach blade railroad station nearest to their destination and there meet hirs aira denver engaged as aa matron of tho the academy at the th school the li Is truck struck by an air of mystery perva pervading dinc the lonely place haskell welcomes them wilton payne teacher of psychology ch completes the faculty CHAPTER II 11 vaguely vaguely disturbed and apprehensive p janet anet watches fro from m age her r window a meeting between twe en haskoll HaB ke koll I 1 and 1 a man of unprepossessing poss escine appearance but who evi vl dently Is high in haskells Hag kells conn donee dance going coln down to the schoolroom she eh finds a group croup which the teachers had supposed were scholars studying are really highly artistic wax figures mystified she informs mrs denver next day haskell explains the somewhat unusual circumstances connected with the conduct of the academy the professors take up their duties among janeta pupils to Is berenice daughter of tho late owner of the academy and she Is attracted by her haskell under her fathers will Is iru guardian ardlan CHAPTER III OUR came quickly at aften FOUR ten minutes after arthur was waiting for her lu in the liall hall she had arrayed herself in a short tweed skirt shirt an orange jersey and knitted cap now to explore this wild rand they made their way around the west wing and skirted the vegetable garden which stretched toward fl a grove of oaks beyond these they saw the gleaming waters of midnight lake A small dock was found and to one of its posts two rowboats with locked oars were tied both bore the lettering property of 0 the academy shall we row across to the ravine side that would be tai the quickest wiy way to reach the falls on the lake quietly rowing their perturbed spirits became stilled by the intense and wild loveliness of the scene arthur said bald little only too thankful to be away with janet mercer away from that sinister house look theres an eagle she pointed to the great bird winging its flight northward he have to teach in loftland Lost land academy are you beginning to feel nervous again yes but I 1 intend to put it through of course well put it through she liked the plural pronoun he glanced at her thinking her beauty was like some happy adventure of the spirit he could not imagine her growing old or tired or discouraged always there would be the light touch the smile over the irrevocable the happy confidence of that rare minority who walk the world as if it were an enchanted place she had bad dignity too that attribute rare in modern women 1 I am very lucky he said abruptly arent we really always in luck if we only knew it 1 I wonder if gordon haskell Is lucky 1 I am sure he wants to be were your scholars as exemplary as mine all ah that reminds me I 1 have a note in my purse addressed simply the teacher I 1 think this Is a good time to read it she unfolded it and as she read it gave a little startled gesture and passed the bit of paper to him on it were the cryptic words gordon haskell Is afraid ot of nothing but the four wax figures arthur rested on his bis oars oara a moment and gazed back at the vast pile or of the old academy that comes in very pat with the conversation I 1 overheard I 1 believe those four wax figures are the crux of the whole mystery do you believe his story about miss bracebridge it sounds reasonable enough and she Is certainly like her fathers po portrait ah in fact she reminds me ah I 1 know she Is like the four w was figures startlingly like them its a curious beauty almost shy abby and elusive you said the girl figures were beautiful quite lovely I 1 did haskell say there were five children yes she Is the only remaining one perhaps he said I 1 many deaths yes many deaths but if he be Is afraid of them she jibe queried why not have them out of the way do you think he Is actually afraid of them or of an idea lack back of them she mused D QS n ta HOW could there be an idea 6 back a ck of them 1 I should like to see them closer were they well made startlingly well made the work of luf a genuine artist I 1 should say bay the faces of the two young girls were very lovely sweet frustrated faces it if one can speak so of a wax figure the young boys are handsome fellows veryl very I 1 if they came to life I 1 why what Is the mat matter terl his arm had jerked an oar until the boat fairly spun round he laughed nervously 1 I suppose that great barrack of a building has hai made me jumpy but I 1 thought I 1 saw a face down there in the lake inke he pointed to the dark surface covering incalculable depths u it seemed rising up op to meet me ax drowned faces rise therel there 1 the foolish fancy Is overt overl im sorry I 1 jerked the boat please dont think me superstitious 1 I dont whatever do you gather from this note that he has bus a secret enemy in tile the establishment who wants to warn us against something what he gazed at her solemnly 1 I think we are in danger of no ordinary kind ive followed the ad of educational institutions for several years and ive forgotten nearly all of them because they rang true you know to in reading them that their achievements were a matter of open and honorable history any parent or guardian could feel reasonably satisfied that he be was on the right track but haskells advertisement stood out startlingly from the first it seemed strange to me but because ho he wanted teachers not pupils I 1 answered it they made their way with some difficulty up the magnificent bed of the creek afar oft off they heard a steady roaring which chev pro cecill fa from ite ilie great rail fi all janet jn n et I 1 came on after him sure footed and graceful be careful he warned her the stream Is not very deep but the current Is terrific it would sweep you ot off your feet in an instant dont get too close A well defined little footpath skirted the stream between its wild waters aters and the great immobile rocks the ravine narrowed steadily the cliffs rising higher and higher and drawing closer together until they seemed almost ready to close out the sky then the cliffs departed from their straight line became conca concave c forming a vast aperture something of an ellipse in i shape at its further end a A sheet of water thick and straight as a section of niagara dropped ft a sheer adeer two hundred feet from an out jut ting rock and with a wild roar filled a funnel shaped aperture nt at the foat toot of the cutt cliff with a mad whirl ai of W water a how lovely I 1 how terrifying I 1 even nature Is terrifying in this region oh dont go too neala near she had bad gone lightly on ahead of him to a vast slippery black rock which overhung the whirl and was gazing as if fascinated dont go too noarl near 1 he roared making it a megaphone of hla his list nothing on earth could get you out of there if once you fell in im a strong swi swimmer miner but wed both be dro drowned ned 1 I think he went on that there must be a subterranean current at the bottom of that funnel which meeting the water of the fall creates this whirl but zee see that a path coming down the cliff almost above the whirl what idiot would ever try it except perhaps in the driest summer weather why an awful scarcely were the words out oi of his mouth than from the trees which formed at one part of the paths zigzag course a merciful barrier from the precipice below from it these hese trees a figure appeared and by her copper colored suit they recognized berenice brace bracebridge rodg she seemed to io ile be admiring ai the scenery benery and taking little heed of the slippery almost precipitous path which led toa tiny patch 0 of rock the most fragmentary platform above the great whirl arthur gesticulated wildly and at the same instant a voice back bach of him cried dont I 1 dont fleming you might startle sta artle herl to be continued |
